Traditionally, the Internet has been a platform that enables the retrieval and display of static content. Today, the Internet is becoming a platform that enables users to create and manage rich content. For example, several leading companies provide Internet-based services that enable users to create and manage word-processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other types of rich content.
To create and manage rich content, a web page may include a control surface. The control surface is a set of user-selectable controls. When the user selects a control in the control surface, a functionality associated with the selected control is provided without navigating the user away from the page. For example, the control surface may include a boldface control that, when selected, makes selected text in the web page bold. In another example, the control surface may include a control that, when selected, spell checks a comment and a control that, when selected, adds the comment post to a blog.